Promises
by ProbableImpossibilities
Summary: Father Anderson decides to take the children from the orphanage to the zoo for the day. However, impending rain brings forth a test of trust... and faith.


**Promises**

It was a rather overcast day in Rome; the air was heavy with pre-rain humidity, and gray clouds were beginning to gather over the horizon, heralding an impending storm. All in all, not a very good day to go to the zoo. Nevertheless, Alexander Anderson had promised the children of Ferdinant Lukes that he would take them on this excursion on this exact date, and he intended to do so... preferably before it started pouring. The priest held a hand to his forehead and scanned the skies anxiously, hoping for a sign that the weather would improve. Finding none, he put his hand down and sighed. He'd just have to pray for sunshine and hope God's agenda matched up with his. The children didn't get to go on these types of trips often, and he was sure they'd all have fun... well, most of them, at any rate. Actually, he was certain that approximately 99 percent of them would have the time of their young lives, except, perhaps, for Enrico.  
>The boy in question had detached himself from the rest of the children, who were beginning to gather, wide-eyed, around the giraffe habitat. Enrico, however, didn't seem to have any interest in the animals, gracing them only with the occasional scowl or raised eyebrow. He stood by Anderson's side, arms folded.<br>Sulking was not unusual behaviour for the silver-haired youth; in fact, he did it quite well, and would probably perfect it as an art form given a few more years. However, Anderson, having taken care of children for some time, could always tell when one of his brood was upset, and it became apparent to him that something had Enrico mildly distressed. He seemed to be fidgeting uncharacteristically, wringing his hands, adjusting his collar, or tugging at the cross around his neck. And as the group wandered around the zoo, Enrico never once strayed as far as three feet away from Anderson, always hovering close to his side or trailing behind him like a shadow. At the orphanage, Enrico had made it clear that he wanted to be left alone for the most part, and this sudden clingy-ness concerned the priest.  
>Anderson stopped and squatted to a level where he could look the boy in the eye. "Enrico, don' ye want tae go see the elephants wi' the others?"<br>Enrico scowled. "No. Elephants are disgusting."  
>Anderson blinked. "Now whit makes ye say that?"<br>"They just are." Enrico pointed towards one of the grey animals. "Look, that one's covered in dirt. And they drink through their noses."  
>"They jist use their trunks tae get the water intae their mouths."<br>"But they're still drinking nose germs!" Enrico protested. "And they spray them on each other!"  
>Anderson smiled. "Nothin' gets past ye, huh?" He reached out and messed with Enrico's hair, an action to which the boy objected fiercely.<br>"Ah! Stop it! _Basta_!" Enrico backed away, but only, Anderson noticed, a couple of steps. He shot Anderson an indignant glare, frantically smoothing his tousled hair. "Don't do that."  
>Anderson smiled mischievously. "Ah'm ae grown-up, Ah can dae that all Ah want."<br>Enrico huffed. "Well, when I'm a grown-up, I'll be tall enough to mess up your hair. And I won't stop when you ask me to."  
>Anderson chuckled and stood up, turning towards the departing group of children. "Looks like we've got some catchin' up tae dae. Widnae want tae get lost, would we?"<br>Enrico's violet eyes widened for a moment, but he abruptly turned his head away. "No," he mumbled, and followed Anderson towards the reptile habitat, ever-so-slightly closer than before.

-XXXXX-

They had less than an hour to go when the first drop of rain fell. It didn't take long for more to follow, the smattering of rain becoming a torrential downpour within minutes. Children were screaming and running wildly about, flailing helplessly in panic at the first signs of lightning. Anderson hastened to herd the mass of frightened children back towards the front gates of the zoo and onto the bus. Once all were seated and beginning to calm down, he started counting heads. "2, 4, 6, 8... yes, Maria?"  
>A little girl with curly brown hair and wide eyes tugged hesitantly on his cassock. "Father, I think somebody's missing!"<br>Anderson hastily finished his head count, and realized she was right. He tried to think of the children he'd seen get onto the bus, and after a couple of seconds, it hit him.  
>Enrico.<br>Anderson sprinted off the bus and back into the storm, brows furrowed in worry. They must have gotten separated during all the confusion, and he had little idea where to look. Thinking back, he remembered that he'd left Enrico sitting on a bench near the polar bears to go help Giselle tie her shoe right before the storm hit. _Dear God, I hope he's alright,_ Anderson thought, and ran off through the zoo.

It didn't take him long to find Enrico. The boy sat, curled up in a ball, completely drenched and shivering, exactly where Anderson had left him. The priest ran towards him. "Enrico!" He scooped up the child in one swift motion and ran under a large, leafy tree. Temporarily sheltered from the pouring rain, he set Enrico down gently and sat on the ground next to him. Seeing Enrico's shivers, he took off his cassock and wrapped it around the boy, who accepted it silently and wrapped it around himself like a quilt.

"Father." Enrico's lip trembled. "How dare you!"

Anderson blinked. "Whit?"

Enrico scowled at him angrily. "How dare you leave me here? What kind of priest are you? You need to keep better track of people! I sat and waited for you...and..." he faltered. "And..."

Seeing the boy's face, Anderson realized that, though the water sliding down his cheeks was most likely rain, his eyes were reddened from crying. Enrico bit his lip and shut his eyes, and suddenly Anderson understood.

The priest wrapped an arm around the boy and drew him close. "There, now, it's alright," he said gently. "Ah've got ye. Ye're safe now."

Enrico wiped his eyes and sniffed. "Father," he whimpered, for the first time openly vulnerable. "Everyone I ever loved left me. They never cared about me!" His voice quivered, and he broke down and wept. Anderson smoothed the boy's soaking hair and held his little body tight against himself. Slowly, Enrico began to calm down, and Anderson could feel his breathing slow to match the rate of the rise and fall of his own chest.

Enrico wiped his eyes again and looked up at Anderson, and for the first time, there was trust in his gaze. "Promise you'll never leave me." He clutched Anderson's wrist. "Promise!"

Anderson hugged him to his side, and looked him in the eye. "Ah promise. Ye dinnae have tae be alone ever again."

Enrico sniffed, nodded, and started to stand up. Anderson helped him to his feet, and they both made their way through the rain back to the bus, and the gates closed behind them.

-XXXXX-

Anderson glanced at his watch, slightly worried by what he saw. It was nearly noon, and Swiss flight 014 from Zurich to Rome was scheduled to board in fifteen minutes. But the priest was anything but late; Anderson had been sitting at Gate A26 for nearly an hour. What worried him was that he had seen neither hide nor hair of his flight partner since he got on the shuttle between terminals.

Zurich wasn't huge as far as international airports went, but there was, nevertheless, plenty of space to lose one's self and/or companions among the shops and bustling crowds. Anderson feared that, because of these crowds, Enrico Maxwell had not seen him leave the terminal, and was sitting somewhere outside of Gate E37 waiting for him. Anderson knew all too well that this was something his chief would do, or rather, _had done _on a number of occasions, but he was loathe to run back and end up missing the flight.

He got up and walked over to the man at the gate. "Ah, entschuldigung," he said hesitantly, the German he'd learned on the mission still unfamiliar. "Ich muss... uh, meinen Freund finden. Kann der Flug... um... um.. fur mich warten?"

The man stared at him. "I speak English, Father."

Anderson smiled, rather sheepish. "Ah'm sorry. Ah was jist wonderin' if... well, Ah think Ah lost mah friend somewhere. Ah know ye've gottae start boarding soon, but is there anything ye can dae tae give me more time?"

The airline employee didn't look all that willing to help. "We can't just delay the flight, sir. I might be able to get you an extra ten minutes, but if you're not back before then we're going to have to leave without you."

Anderson turned and walked away; he had about twenty-five minutes. Once he was a certain distance away from the gate, he broke into a swift jog, which eventually progressed into a full-out sprint towards the terminal shuttle. Of course, if he'd wanted to, he could have simply transported himself back using his Bible, but there were too many witnesses around for the priest's liking. Better to keep up the pretense of being "ordinary".

The doors were nearly closed when he reached the shuttle. With a surprising agility considering his bulk, Anderson slipped between the doors and leaned back against the side of the car. There was nothing he could do now but wait.

-XXXXX-

Thankfully, the shuttle was not really that long in transit. Anderson found himself back in the other terminal with twenty minutes to spare. Now came the hard part: actually finding Enrico... _if _he was still there.

Apparently, another flight had just come in recently, and crowds of people milled about with their carry-ons, blocking Anderson's view. The priest sighed and shook his head. Nothing for it, then.

"Excuse me!" he roared, and started pushing people out of the way. He tried to be as gentle with them as possible, but the burly vampire hunter really had no idea of his own strength, and many of the poor bystanders ended up in piles on the floor. Shouts of objection and yelps of surprise rose up from around him like a cloud, rising over the murmur of the rest of the crowd.

Anderson reddened slightly, aware that he was making a scene. Maxwell was bound to be less than thrilled. Still, he plowed on through the crowds of people, hoping to catch a glimpse of silver among the sea of faces. But everywhere he looked, he only saw unfamiliar features staring back at him. A flash of panic surged through his mind. What if something had happened to him? The thought that he might never see Maxwell again because of his own error-

"ANDERSON!"

The Paladin turned towards the voice. Lo and behold, there was Enrico Maxwell, standing not two feet away with his arms folded, glaring angrily up at Anderson and absolutely red with fury. Grinding his teeth, Maxwell stomped over to Anderson and grabbed him by the collar of his cassock. "We need to talk," he growled through gritted teeth, and dragged Anderson through the crowd and into a nearby restroom.

Anderson had known that his chief would be angry, but he hadn't really expected to be locked in a bathroom stall and shoved onto the seat of the toilet. Sure, Maxwell could be a wee bit strange, but _this _was just downright unusual. "Are ye alright, Chief?" he asked. "Ah dinnae know whit happened-"

"Oh, I'll tell you what happened, Anderson!" Maxwell thundered. "You left me standing here in some God-forsaken terminal to go do only-He-knows-what! Why do you always feel compelled to just run off whenever you feel like it? I stepped off the shuttle and you were nowhere to be found!" Maxwell suddenly grabbed Anderson's cassock and pulled him up to a standing position. "Never do that again, do you hear me? Never leave my sight unless I ask you to!"

Anderson blinked. Something about his chief's demeanor tugged at his memory.

Maxwell's grip on Anderson's cassock tightened, and he shut his eyes tightly, as if holding back tears. "I need you with me, Anderson," he muttered. "I thought you understood that."

Suddenly, a vision of the zoo in Rome flashed across Anderson's mind's eye, and he realized what had seemed familiar. He smiled knowingly. The little boy had grown up, but he hadn't really changed all that much.

Gently, Anderson wrapped his arms around Maxwell and pulled his head forward to rest on his chest. He comforted Enrico in the same way he had all those years ago. "It's alright; Ah'm back now. Ye've got nothing tae worry about."

Maxwell flinched, but he didn't pull away or lessen his grip on Anderson's cassock. "I wasn't worried."

Anderson only smiled and stroked his hair. "Ye dinnae have tae be alone, ye know. Ah'll always be here for ye. Ah promised Ah'd never leave ye, remember?"

Enrico looked up at Anderson, a sly grin on his face. With sudden swiftness, he reached out and attacked the older priest's hair in a brilliant preemptive strike, although the already-bordering-on-unkempt blond spikes were not terribly affected. Mission accomplished, he reattached his hand to Anderson's cassock and chuckled. "I'm finally tall enough."

Anderson smiled wryly. "That ye are. Congratulations. But Ah'm still a head taller than ye." He wrapped his arm around Enrico's shoulders, and proceeded to give him a firm noogie.

Maxwell struggled to free himself from Anderson's grasp. "Stop it, you big lug! _Dios_!"

However, the Paladin had no intention of letting go this time. He wrapped both arms around Maxwell and pulled him close. "Enrico," he said. "Ye know Ah'll always come lookin' for ye. Nae matter what."

Maxwell closed his eyes and wrapped his arms around Anderson's torso. "Thank you," he whispered. "But, Anderson..."

"What?" Anderson breathed. He could feel the steady rise and fall of Enrico's chest against his, synchronized in perfect rhythm to the beating of both of their hearts.

"We're going to miss our flight."

"Ah." Anderson suddenly remembered they were still inside a bathroom stall. He checked his watch; with the extra ten minutes, they had only three minutes left to get back to the gate. "We'd better get goin'!"

Maxwell sighed. "Why can't you keep track of time?" He folded his hands. "There's no one here. Get out that magical Bible of yours; we'll just have to resort to desperate measures."

Anderson smiled sheepishly, and opened the book. "Where tae?"

Enrico smiled wryly, and slung an arm over Anderson's shoulders. "Straight to the gate, please. We'll be fashionably late."

Anderson smiled and nodded. The pages of the book glowed, and floated all around the two of them in a swirl of text. Suddenly, the papers merged into a whirlwind of light, and they were both gone.

*For Shuramiyaki*


End file.
